Briefcase - June 27, 2006

June 27, 2006

NEW YORKStreet gets a little lift from acquisitions A series of multibillion-dollar acquisitions gave Wall Street a modest advance Thursday, although many investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates later in the week. The Dow rose 56.19, or 0.51 percent, to 11,045.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 6.06, or 0.49 percent, at 1,250.56, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 12.20, or 0.58 percent, to 2,133.67. CHICAGOWalgreen earnings jump in third quarter Walgreen Co., the biggest U.S. drugstore chain by revenue, posted a 14 percent increase in third-quarter earnings Monday as already-booming prescription sales got an additional lift from the Medicare drug benefit program. The company kept up a blistering expansion pace in the quarter, accelerating the number of openings in what is on pace to be a record year for new stores with 475 in the 12-month period ending in August. It said it plans 500 more store openings in fiscal 2007. The better-than-expected profit came despite the additional costs of opening a store, on average, every 19 1/2 hours. Net income for the quarter ended May 31 was $469.2 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $411 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Frito-Lay's Rosenfeld tapped to lead Kraft Kraft Foods Inc. replaced CEO Roger Deromedi with Frito-Lay chief Irene Rosenfeld on Monday amid continuing skepticism on Wall Street about the sluggish payoff from an ongoing companywide overhaul at the nation's largest food company. The switch comes with the manufacturer of Kraft cheese, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Oreo cookies struggling in the face of steep commodity costs, tough competition from private-label brands and changing health and dietary concerns, which also have challenged other packaged-foods makers. Deromedi, 53, had been chief executive at Kraft since 2001, holding the job alone for the last 2 1/2 years after sharing it with Betsy Holden as co-CEO until 2003. TRENTON, N.J.Johnson & Johnson buying Pfizer unit Johnson & Johnson said Monday it is buying Pfizer Inc.'s consumer health care unit for $16.6 billion in a nearly all-cash deal that strongly boosts J&J's smallest division. The purchase would give New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson products including Listerine, Visine, Neosporin and Lubriderm to add to its stable of name brands such as Reach toothbrushes, Acuvue contact lenses, Band-Aids and Neutrogena. J&J also would see nonprescription Pfizer drugs such as Sudafed, Zantac and Nicorette join its Tylenol, Motrin and Monistat, nearly doubling current over-the-counter drug revenues. SOUTH BENDTuition Rx workshop scheduled Wednesday If you're worried about the continuous rise in the cost of college diplomas, the Tuition Rx Financial Education Association might have some answers for you. The group, which has an office in Granger, will host a free workshop Wednesday on how to survive higher education's whopping price tag, featuring Bill Vail, regional director of the association. The workshop will be from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at the Francis Branch Library, 52655 N. Ironwood Drive. For more information, call the regional office at (574) 271-0635.